Garcia, Nelson Earn AAC M-Soc Player Of The Week Honors

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From SMUMustangs.com:

Garcia, Nelson Earn Conference Player Of The Week Honors
No. 9 Mustangs Won Regular-Season AAC Championship

Nov. 2, 2015
Conference Release | Season Stats | Tournament Bracket

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (American/SMU) – Following a 2-0 victory over Temple last week, No. 9 SMU men’s soccer players Stanton Garcia and Michael Nelson earned American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week and Goalkeeper of the Week, respectively. The Mustangs clinched the regular-season championship and will host the quarterfinals of the conference tournament as the No. 1 seed on Nov. 7.

McKinney, Texas, native Garcia tallied three points for the Mustangs and had a hand in both goals in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Temple. The junior midfielder scored the opening goal in the 48th minute and assisted on Brenden Lee’s goal in the 73rd minute. The goal was Garcia’s fifth of the season and the assist was his first.

Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Nelson recorded five saves in the 2-0 shutout over Temple to tally his fourth shutout in league play and seventh overall this season. Nelson leads the conference in saves (66), shutouts (7) and save percentage (.786). This is the second time this season Nelson has earned Goalkeeper of the Week with the last time being on Oct. 12.

The awards are the Mustangs’ 9th and 10th player of the week selections this season with Idi Camara earning Offensive Player of the Week Oct. 26, Mauro Cichero earning Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 19, Oct. 5 and Sept. 7, Emil Cuello earning Rookie of the Week on Oct. 5 and Sept. 21 and Jared Rice earning Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 28.

The Mustangs enter the AAC Tournament as the No. 1 seed with a record of 7-0-1, 12-2-3 overall and post an unbeaten streak of 11-0-1. SMU leads the conference in shots (249), points (102), goals (32), assists (38) and assists per game (2.24). Sophomore Rice is tied for first in assists with eight.

The Mustangs host the No. 8 seed, Cincinnati, in the quarterfinals of The American tournament on Saturday, Nov. 7, at 7 p.m. CT. Live stats and video will be available on SMUMustangs.com. SMU defeated the Bearcats, 1-0, in double overtime on Oct. 17 in Cincinnati.